[ad_1]
Six men were charged Thursday with conspiring to kidnap the governor of the US state of Michigan, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, according to a complaint filed in federal court, reports CNN.
The FBI learned of the plot after details about it appeared in The Detroit News earlier this year, after several people argued on social media about the possibility of a “violent overthrow” of a particular government and forces. of order.
„By communicating through social media, Croft and Fox (two of the defendants) agreed to form a group to act violently against various state governments that they believed violated the United States Constitution, including these are also the Michigan state government. and Gretchen Whitmer“, shown in the complaint.
Court documents show that the Federal Bureau of Investigation placed an undercover agent among the defendants and that he witnessed their plans. They allegedly spoke of “killing tyrants” and “kidnapping the incumbent governor.”
In FBI audio recordings, the group’s leader said he needed 200 people to “storm the government building in Lansing” and take Governor Whitmer hostage. The plan was to be implemented shortly before the 2020 presidential elections. The group also reportedly considered ways to confront law enforcement, using Molotov cocktails to destroy police vehicles and training with firearms.
Terrorist plan revealed in meetings in the basement of a store hidden under a hatch in the floor
CThey say the FBI learned of the plan with the help of confidential sources and investigated the situation with the help of several undercover agents during the months of planning the kidnapping. They also say that the terrorist group organized military training sessions in the areas isolated states of Michigan.
At one point, the group had a meeting in Grand Rapids in the basement of a store that was accessible through a trapdoor hidden under a carpet on the main level. At the scene, the FBI said the group discussed and debated how the attack would be carried out and how they would use Molotov cocktails to destroy police cars.
The group leader reportedly called Whitmer “Cthat tyrant ”and would have asked those present to prepare improvised explosive devices. Several such meetings have also been held in neighboring Wisconsin and Ohio.
FBI records also show the plan included attacking a Michigan police facility and the governor’s vacation home. The members of the group considered that the best opportunity is “the kidnapping of Whitmer when he leaves the vacation home.” “We grabbed her and grabbed her. We just caught the bitch. After we do that, it’s all over.”
At another meeting in September, members of the group detonated a surrounded improvised explosive device as evidence of a planned explosion on the road leading to Governor Whitmer’s vacation home.
In another recorded phone call, Adam Fox, the group’s leader, said he purchased an 800,000-volt stun gun that he planned to use at the time of the plot.
The individuals even planned to bring Whitmer to Wisconsin to stand trial.
Editor: Adrian Dumitru
